NEW YORK, July 01, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harris & Harris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TINY), an investor in transformative companies enabled by disruptive science, notes that its portfolio company, AgBiome, a leading agricultural research firm, has formed a strategic partnership with Genective, a leading developer of biotech crops, to accelerate the discovery of a new generation of insect control traits.

By combining Genective's technology to develop transgenic corn traits with AgBiome’s unique pipeline for identifying a vast number of new candidate trait genes, this partnership has the potential to offer the seed industry a wide range of novel and critically needed products.

“We are excited that AgBiome has partnered with Genective,” says Misti Ushio, Ph.D., Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Harris & Harris Group. “Both companies are developing genetically modified organisms as a means to improve agricultural production, and this partnership represents further progress toward that goal. We believe the interest of Genective to partner with AgBiome further validates AgBiome’s differentiated approach to agricultural research and product development. We continue to be excited for the future prospects of AgBiome.”

Harris & Harris Group is a publicly traded venture capital firm that is also a business development company. Detailed information about Harris & Harris Group and its holdings can be found on its website at www.HHVC.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/harrisharrisvc and by following on Twitter @harrisandharrisgroup.

This press release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs, and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in this press release. Please see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, as well as subsequent filings, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties associated with venture capital investing and other significant factors that could affect the Company's actual results. Except as otherwise required by Federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new events or uncertainties. The references to the websites www.HHVC.com, www.Facebook.com and www.reuters.com have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. Harris & Harris Group is not responsible for the contents of third party websites.